Saying what you really feel – especially in a high-stress job – is no easy task. Crucial conversations are often avoided for fear of damaging relationships. These unaired grievances get bottled up and over time can increase our level of stress.

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But there are three core conditions for effective conversation that can help here: empathy (stepping into someone else’s shoes), unconditional respect (accepting the other’s right to be as they are), and congruence (expressing our thoughts and feelings authentically).

Sadly, ignoring a problem with another person – or avoiding giving negative feedback – won't make them go away. On the contrary, too many important things going unsaid can lead to a toxic environment where stress levels rise, relationships break down, and productivity suffers.

But, by stepping into the other party’s shoes, respecting their right to be as they are, and expressing our own thoughts authentically, we can create a more psychologically safe environment where issues are dealt with respectfully.

🤔 Take Our Quiz & Get a Personalised Episode Playlist

• Learn about the three core conditions for effective conversation
• Understand how balancing these conditions can improve communication and lead to healthier relationships
• Discover strategies to identify and address conversations you've been avoiding, reducing stress and unresolved conflicts

• [00:03:50] Where people struggle to say what they mean
• [00:04:44] Bringing your whole self to work
• [00:08:59] The 3 core conditions for being with people
• [00:17:56] What to do if you're stuck in a "must-win" mindset
• [00:22:10] Saying what you really mean
• [00:27:27] Identifying your emotions
• [00:31:01] When to ask for help
• [00:34:20] How to give difficult feedback
• [00:39:42] How to take difficult feedback
• [00:43:54] When tricky feedback situations become unpleasant
• [00:48:53] Lasy's top tips

Lasy encourages people to bring their authentic selves to work, promoting a healthier and more honest work environment. She co-founded Conscious Business People to advocate for bringing our entire personality to come to work, over surface-level perks like dress-down Fridays. Her mission is to make people see work as part of their life and to enhance authenticity in the workplace.

Website | LinkedIn

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
• How to Get Moving Again When You Feel Stuck – Episode 207 with Nicola Rylett-Jones
• How to Challenge Upsetting Behaviour – Episode 192 with Dr Chris Turner
• What Happens When We’re Really Listened to – Episode 180 with Tom Dillon
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Mentioned in this episode:

Work Well Live

FrogFest Virtual 2025

We often set goals in the belief they’ll make us happier. But setting goals alone might not be enough to truly help us thrive.In this quick dip, Rachel discusses why that’s the case, and offers a different approach to finding satisfaction and success.

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It all begins with a shift in focus from goals to desires. Instead of starting with specific goals, we should first identify what we truly desire and what our basic needs are. This helps us align our actions and routines with what truly matters to us.

Life’s too short to not love what you do, and vice versa. So it’s time to look at our own desires and needs, ask “What truly matters to me?”, and determine whether they’re aligned. Doing this will move you closer to a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

🤔 Take Our Quiz & Get a Personalised Episode Playlist

• Stop starting with goals and focus on your desires and needs
• Learn about the four elements of your North Star and how they can guide you
• Understand the problem with outcome-based goals and why process goals are more effective

• [00:01:31] Stop starting with goals
• [00:03:27] The four elements of your North Star
• [00:05:13] Figure out your "why"
• [00:06:01] Making space for your needs
• [00:08:30] THRIVE Week Planner
• [00:13:09] The problem with outcome-based goals

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
• Life’s Too Short NOT to Love What You Do – Episode 209
• Finding Your North Star – Episode 208
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

There are times working in medicine or other high-stress jobs, when you feel trapped and unhappy. And maybe you’ve told yourself you have no other option but to stay put. These “shoulds” can come from societal expectations or the idea that you’ve put so much into your job already that it would be silly – or even irresponsible – to quit now.

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These myths and pressures keep us feeling stuck, and prevent us from exploring alternative possibilities within or outside of our current field.

This week, Rachel is joined by Dr Sarah Goulding, who breaks open those myths, and shows how we can uncover new possibilities. It all starts by recognising we’re not defined solely by our roles, and embracing the idea that it's okay to change and to pursue work that aligns with our strengths and passions.

Sarah also has a set of self-coaching questions that can help us discover what we’re going to do with our “one wild and precious life”.

• Discover how to find a way of working that doesn't harm your well-being and allows you to be passionate and energetic in and out of work
• Explore the myths and societal pressures that keep us feeling trapped in our current careers and learn how to break free from them
• Gain valuable insights into the importance of reflecting on your skills and experiences to uncover new career possibilities within or outside of medicine

• [00:03:17] The job-for-life fallacy
• [00:07:53] Toxic expectations of gratitude
• [00:09:57] Availability bias and the sunk cost fallacy
• [00:15:41] Reinventing yourself
• [00:18:05] When's the right time to make a change?
• [00:20:55] Satisfaction outside of work
• [00:21:20] Your one wild and precious life
• [00:26:14] 2,000 weeks left
• [00:27:46] Taking imperfect action
• [00:31:16] Career crafting
• [00:33:26] Self-coaching questions
• [00:38:42] Crafting your joyful career path
• [00:45:36] The "I will be happy when..." myth
• [00:47:10] Sarah's top tips

Sarah is a Career Coach for Doctors, passionate about the power of finding your place to thrive. She has 7 jobs, including GP; educator; mentor; and Head of Development at the Joyful Doctor.

Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• Why We’re Ditching the Term ‘Imposter Syndrome’ – Episode 112, with Dr Sarah Goulding
• Finding Your North Star – Episode 208
• Bringing Your Best Self to Work – Episode 67, with Dr Sarah Goulding
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

Work Well Live

We’re all seeking the perfect job or career path that will bring us happiness and fulfilment. But while we’re focused on achieving success, we can overlook the bigger stuff – and it’s possible that our current career trajectory might not take us there.

That’s why we need to find and then follow our North Star. Finding it starts with prioritising four fundamental needs: feeling fully human, deep connections, meaning and purpose, and growth and learning. By aligning our goals with these needs, we can find true fulfilment.

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In this quick dip episode, Rachel outlines how we can understand what makes us feel alive, cultivate meaningful relationships and activities, and embrace continuous growth in all aspects of our lives.

If we carry on putting achievement ahead of our own needs – especially if we’re doing so to please someone else – we may end up feeling empty and unsatisfied.

But by tapping into those four fundamental needs, we’ll find ourselves on a path to a more fulfilling and balanced life.

• Discover the four fundamental needs for true fulfilment in life
• Learn practical steps to align your goals with these fundamental needs
• Understand the consequences of prioritising achievement over fundamental needs and how it can impact your well-being

• [00:03:48] What are you aiming for?
• [00:06:06] The first core need: physical wellbeing
• [00:06:51] The second core need: Connection
• [00:08:00] The third core need: Meaning and purpose
• [00:08:43] The fourth core need: Learning and growth
• [00:09:42] The fifth element: A need to achieve
• [00:10:57] Your north star
• [00:12:07] Self-awareness
• [00:14:49] How do you need to live?
• [00:16:30] Don't get pulled south

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• Defining Your Own Success in Life – Episode 107, with Dr Claire Kaye
• How to Escape the Tyranny of the ‘Shoulds’ – Episode 196, with Charlotte Housden
• How to Reconnect With Your Purpose in Life – Episode 94, with Dr Richard Pile
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

We all experience moments of feeling stuck. Sometimes we have the motivation, but something’s in our way. On other days the simplest things can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill. Now matter how competent we know we are, that feeling of inertia can wreak havoc on our self-confidence. If we’re going to get unstuck and move forwards, we first need to find out what’s blocking us.

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The solution is to take a conscious leadership approach. This means shifting our mindset and becoming more aware of our reactions and thought patterns. By recognising when we’re “below the line” and stuck in victim mode, we can consciously shift “above the line” and take control of our actions and reactions.

This week, Rachel is joined by executive coach and conscious leadership expert, Nicola Rylett-Jones. Nicola offers practical steps you can take today to embody the role of a conscious leader – even if you don’t consider yourself as having a leadership position.

Living below the line makes us feel frustrated, demotivated, and without the ability to make progress. It can also make us less effective leaders and colleagues, more prone to agitation. But by becoming more aware of our triggers, we can work better together with less effort.

🤔 Take Our Quiz & Get a Personalised Episode Playlist

• Learn practical steps to overcome feelings of being stuck and gain control of your actions and reactions.
• Discover how to shift your mindset and become more aware of your reactions and thought patterns.
• Find out how to embody the role of a conscious leader, even if you don't consider yourself in a leadership position.

• [00:04:19] How we demotivate ourselves
• [00:09:38] Conscious leadership
• [00:14:58] Becoming unstuck
• [00:29:16] Getting a different perspective
• [00:34:00] Worrying
• [00:36:16] Tackling anxiety around complaints
• [00:38:44] It's time to take action
• [00:46:17] Guilt as a motivator
• [00:57:18] Nicola's top tips

Nicola Rylett-Jones is a senior leader who has held both regional and national Director roles with some of the UK’s most prestigious organisations. She is currently a Trustee and Deputy Chair of the Institute of Leadership, executive coach and relationship manager for the Welsh Government’s Accelerated Growth Program, and chair of two leading marketing organisations.

Website | LinkedIn

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• Passing the Naughty Monkey Back – Episode 65, with Dr Amit Sharma
• How to Escape the Drama Triangle and Stop Rescuing People – Episode 75 with Annie Hanekom
• Conversations Which Will Get You Unstuck – Episode 95 with Annie Hanekom
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.
• Apply for Nicola’s Conscious Female Leadership programme
• Nicola’s Inspirante Business Book Club
• Leadership Development – The Institute of Leadership

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

Work Well Live

If you were in a life-or-death scenario and the only path out was over hot coals, would you take it? Of course. But when it comes to situations that are making us uncomfortable or even miserable, we seldom want to experience that discomfort to get to what we know will be better for us.

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In this quick dip episode, Rachel explores the importance of considering the long-term impact of our work, and offers a single question you can ask yourself right now, to discover what you really want to do with your one wild and precious life.

If you’re on a burning platform or in a situation that could get worse, you can make a change – even if it's a small one. Any change can help you break free from the status quo.

• Discover the importance of considering the long-term impact of your work on your well-being, mindset, character, and relationships
• Learn practical steps to recognise short-term discomfort, assess risks and benefits, seek external perspectives, and take action towards positive change
• Understand what happens if you ignore the impact of your work, and how to create a fulfilling work life by addressing this problem

• [00:02:12] Walking across hot sand
• [00:04:20] The burning platform
• [00:06:46] What is your work doing to your mind, your character, and your relationships?
• [00:08:14] Should I stay or should I go?
• [00:09:19] Where to go for guidance
• [00:10:07] Taking action

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
• How to Live With No Regrets – Episode 123 with Georgina Scull
• How to Say F**k it and Become Ridiculously Relaxed (even about stuff that REALLY matters) – Episode 130 with Jon C Parkin
• Should I Stay or Should I Go? – Episode 89 with Corrina Gordon-Barnes
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

If you’re in a job where you use your brain a lot, it can be easy to feel disconnected from your body and emotions. This in turn can lead to a lack of self-awareness and even difficulty in expressing yourself. That lack of awareness changes how we outwardly express ourselves, even in ways we’re not aware of.

But by becoming consciously connected with our body, we can get a bit more control over our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and over how others see us.

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This week, Rachel is joined by coach and trainer Helen Leathers, who shows us how our posture, our movements, even the way we dress, can affect not only our mood, but how we’re perceived at work. She also shares a practical exercise that can help us cultivate stillness, so we appear more confident and open.

It’s natural for those of us in cerebral jobs to see the body as just a vessel for the brain. But if we disconnect for too long, we can find it harder to tap into, understand, and express difficult feelings like stress and overwhelm.

But there are simple things you can do to reconnect with your body, to literally shake off those negative feelings, and to “fake it ‘til you become it”.

🤔 Take Our Quiz & Get a Personalised Episode Playlist

• Learn practical steps to cultivate self-awareness and express yourself more effectively
• Discover how becoming consciously connected with your body and emotions can lead to positive changes in your life
• Understand the practical applications of embodiment, and separate it from the pseudoscience

• [00:04:50] Consciously connecting body and mind
• [00:13:28] How posture and movement affects how we're perceived
• [00:16:34] Fake it 'til you become it
• [00:17:41] How we dress is a signal to our body
• [00:19:52] Embodiment and overwhelm
• [00:28:08] Acknowledging where feelings sit in our body
• [00:32:37] Shake it off
• [00:38:58] Does it matter where in your body you feel something?
• [00:43:35] Helen's embodiment tips

Helen Leathers is a transformational coach with expertise in helping people use their body to access thoughts and emotions. She helps women who feel lost or overwhelmed to find their way in life again, and teaches doctors coaching and communication skills.

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• Tiny Habits, Big Changes – Episode 2, with Dr Katherine Hickman
• What Happens When We’re Really Listened to – Episode 180, with Tom Dillon
• Doctors’ Transformational Coaching Diploma – Use the code FROGSPAWN for an exclusive discount
• Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

Work Well Live

We all experience shame from time to time, but when it becomes toxic, we can end up in a shame spiral from which it's difficult to escape. When we’re called out on something about which we feel shameful, it can make us defensive. And so often, no-one can punish us as harshly as we punish ourselves.

In this quick dip episode, Rachel shares her strategy to break free from shame spirals and cultivate a healthier mindset; by sharing our shame, taking some perspective, and seeking support from others. She unpacks her SHAME model that was inspired by a recent spiral, which is a simple five-step framework for working through the sensations of shame and finding a way to be kinder to ourselves.

Shame doesn’t make us better people – it only makes us harder on ourselves and leads to us being defensive. So this episode offers a chance to break free of that spiral, remember that we’re human, and remind ourselves we’re doing our best.

• Discover how shame can impact our internal mindset and contribute to burnout
• Learn about the complex nature of shame and how it shows up
• Explore strategies and techniques to break free from shame spirals and cultivate a healthier mindset

• [00:02:09] What's on your pop bottle label?
• [00:03:14] When our actions clash with our values
• [00:07:30] What our ingrained stories tell us
• [00:13:20] Share your shame
• [00:14:35] Hang outwith useless friends
• [00:15:37] Awe
• [00:16:42] Multiple identities
• [00:19:17] Empathy and understanding

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version on YouTube
• How Do You Say No When Someone Might Die? – Episode 193
• Why Can’t I Say No? – Episode 163
• How Perfectionism and Shame Lead to Stress and Burnout – 152 with Sandy Miles
• How to Avoid Becoming the Second Victim – Episode 92 with Dr Caraline Wright & Dr Lizzie Sweeting
• Tara Brach leads a Guided Meditation: The Practice of RAIN
• Download the episode’s workbook and CPD form. You can use them for reflection and to submit for your appraisal.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

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Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025

When we’re presented with a difficult problem, naturally we use logic and reasoning to solve it. But some problems – like stress and burnout – can’t be solved with logic alone.

The left hemisphere is the area of the brain focused on tasks, logic, and problem-solving. But the right hemisphere deals with relationships, connections, and new perspectives. It’s also visual and metaphorical, so it can help us see problems in a different way. So our right brain can help us live more easily with problems that can’t be solved by the left.

This week, executive coach Yda Bouvier explains how introducing visuals can activate our right brain and give us new perspectives and insights, which can help us understand complex issues, improve problem-solving, and enhance our connection with others.

Over-relying on our left brain can leave us struggling with complex relationships, focusing too much on threats, and making it harder to adapt. But by incorporating more visuals and movement, we can tap into the power of our right brain and unlock new insights and possibilities.

• Learn how using the right brain can help us manage high-stress jobs
• Discover how visuals, metaphor, and movement can activate the right brain and give us new perspectives
• Understand the role of the right brain in problem-solving, intuition, and dealing with complex situations

• [00:02:55] The right brain
• [00:05:28] Left brain vs right brain
• [00:08:41] Yda's journey
• [00:10:47] Are we usingrelying too much on our left brain?
• [00:15:08] The impact of switching to right-brain thinking
• [00:18:02] How does the right brain help solve wicked problems?
• [00:22:40] The left brain and the ego
• [00:25:27] Making practical use of the right brain
• [00:30:22] Left and right brains in relation
• [00:32:52] The power of metaphor and images in communication
• [00:44:05] Exercise: What to do with a big problem

Yda Bouvier is an executive coach with 15 years of experience helping individuals and teams navigate challenges and develop their potential. Yda has a background in strategy consulting and holds a degree in physics. She is the author of the book "Leading with the Right Brain" and is passionate about incorporating right-brain thinking into problem-solving and decision-making processes.

LinkedIn | Website

• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• Watch the video version
• How to Stop Worrying When There’s a Lot to Worry About – Episode 106, with Dr Caroline Walker
• How to Feel Happy, Calm, and Connected – Episode 170,Dr Giles P Croft with
• Leading with the Right Brain – Yda’s book
• Download the episode’s workbook and CPD form. You can use them for reflection and to submit for your appraisal.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

Work Well Live

FrogFest Virtual 2025

So you’ve got a problem, maybe a relationship issue at work or difficulties managing your workload. You’ve talked it with friends, but the solution won’t present itself. Often the problem isn't that we lack solutions, but rather that we haven't fully understood what the problem is in the first place.

In this quick dip episode, Rachel shares her three-step model to help you identify and address the real problem you’re facing. It involves recognising we have choices, embracing our human needs and limitations, and thinking differently.

If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll continue getting the same results. But changing our mindset can give us confidence and the ability to approach situations from a fresh perspective.

• Discover how to identify and solve the underlying problems that are driving you mad and hindering your progress
• Learn why focusing on resilience alone might not address the real issues causing stress and underperformance
• Explore a practical model that will help you make the right choices, embrace your human needs, and think differently to achieve better outcomes

• [00:01:15] What's the real problem?
• [00:03:21] Making the right choices
• [00:04:28] Be human
• [00:05:01] Think differently
• [00:05:22] Putting the three Cs into practice
• [00:09:31] What language are you using?
• [00:11:21] The Shapes Toolkit

• Watch the video
• THRIVE Weekly Planner
• More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
• How to Be REALLY Productive… Without Losing the Plot – Episode 190 with Graham Allcott
• How to Know if You’re Being “Resilience Victim Blamed” – Episode 145
• How to Say No and Deal with Pushback – Episode 1252 with Annie Hanekom
• Download the episode’s workbook and CPD form. You can use them for reflection and to submit for your appraisal.

Write a review and share this with your friends.

Have any questions? Contact Rachel through these platforms:

• LinkedIn: @Dr-Rachel-Morris
• Twitter: @DrRachelMorris
• Email: [email protected]

Find out more about our training

Mentioned in this episode:

FrogFest Virtual 2025